Philosophical pessimism is not despair but a discipline of clear sight. These essays follow the tradition from Schopenhauer through Zapffe and Ligotti, asking what honest pessimism requires of us.
Is it ethical to bring new people into a world of inevitable suffering? This article explores the core arguments for and against the philosophy of antinatalism.
Antinatalism vs childfree: one is a personal lifestyle choice, the other an ethical argument that procreation itself is wrong. Here is how they actually differ.
Can it ever be ethical to bring someone into existence without their consent? This article explores the profound philosophical and ethical challenges surrounding procreation.
A careful reading of *Better Never to Have Been* and the asymmetry that reshaped contemporary moral philosophy.
The 19th-century philosopher who systematized pessimism and found unexpected solace in art, compassion, and renunciation.
Why some of history's sharpest minds have argued that life is worse than we allow ourselves to believe.
Does coming into existence always constitute a harm? A careful examination of the asymmetry argument and its implications.
Is existentialism necessarily about the absurd? Reclaiming Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Camus as thinkers of freedom and commitment.
How the ancient philosophy of Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius holds up under contemporary scrutiny.
Stripping away the cultural ornamentation to find a rigorous philosophy of suffering, impermanence, and the constructed self.